If I Never Knew You
by MullySculder
Summary: My take on what would have happened if Scully and Mulder had never joined the FBI and had never met in that basement. Hope you enjoy it! ETA: Added chapter two on March 6th, also added Chapter three on March 25th. Added Chapter four on August 26th!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully or Walter Skinner they are the creation of property of Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions, this is simply a homage, no copyright infringement is intended. Also, I do not own the lyrics to the song at the quoted at the beginning, I heard it and thought it was cool, again no copyright infringement is intended.**

"I knew I loved you before I knew you" for the third time this week Dana Scully heard Celine Dion singing that song as she walked into her local Starbucks and got in line to order her drink. She again noticed the tall, dark-haired, blue eyed good looking man she had seen earlier this week. It was difficult not to notice him with those blue eyes that seemed to take everything in with a frank curiosity. As she got up to the counter to place her order, she felt him turn around and look at her.

Fox Mulder saw the attractive, red-haired, green eyed woman get in line to order her drink. He saw that she was dressed in blue scrubs instead of her usual business attire. "Hmm.." he thought he had pegged her all wrong he had been sure she was some genus of Washington Power Elite. She had that no nonsense, confident vibe he was used to seeing in the Players in Washington. He was listening to her as she ordered her drink. "She really has a nice speaking voice" he thought to himself.

His drink was up at the bar and he had to leave, as he turned around he almost bumped into her "excuse me" he says she doesn't reply, they look at each other and something indescribable passes between the two of them. Curiosity, attraction mixed with something else. As Mulder exits the shop he pauses and looks back to see her looking at him. They smile at each other as he leaves and she goes up to the bar to get her drink.

On her way back to Good Samaritan she thinks about her encounter at the coffee shop. "Maybe, just maybe there's something there". Oh who was she kidding she knew there was something there, she felt it, the way he looked at her. She was surprised that she had bothered to notice that he didn't wear a wedding band. As she walked into the hospital she notices the ER alive with more activity than normal.

"What do we got, Sarah?" She asks the head trauma nurse as she walks towards a man lying on a gurney.

"Walter Skinner, gunshot wound to the upper chest"  
Scully begins focusing on her patient as Sarah rattles off the rest of his vitals.

"Mr.Skinner, can you hear me? My name is Dr.Scully I'm going to take good care of you."

Sarah takes Dana's coffee and sets it down on the admit desk as they both go into a trauma room. Dana assesses her patient, checking vitals, doing whatever she can to help prolong his life. After 40 minutes of working on him he's stable enough to be moved to surgery.

Dana takes off her protective gear and disposes of them. She washes her hands and her arms and goes to retrieve her coffee, going into the doctor's lounge to warm it up waiting for the next trauma to grace the hospital's door.

Fox Mulder mind was drifting as he graded the thesis papers from his senior seminar students. He found himself wondering about the attractive red-haired doctor that he literally almost bumped into at the coffee shop. He wondered if she was attached to anyone? He was wondering about her so much that he discovered that he had no idea what he had just read.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, wish I did but I don't. Created by and property of Ten Thirteen and Chris Carter. No copyright infringement intended.**

At 8:00 p.m exhausted but still wired after a long day at work Dana Scully decided to go to her local gym. She was considering going for a run, but she really didn't feel like running outside. She got changed in the doctor's lounge, said good bye to Sarah and the rest of the ER staff, headed down to her car and drove the five blocks to the gym by her house, not really thinking about anything, just going through the motions of getting her car from point A to point B in one piece. She parked her car in the underground garage then walked up three flights of stairs to her gym. She decided to start on the treadmill first, since she was in the mood to run.

Fox Mulder looked up at the clock irritated that his 7:15 student conference never showed up. He was trying to help one of his borderline anthropology students get their grade up from a "D" to a "C" but since she hadn't shown up he decided it was time to go. He needed someplace to put his irritation and anger though, so he decided to go for a run. He locked his office, walked downstairs and out of the building only to discover that it was raining buckets. He decided to head to his gym instead and hit the treadmill. After checking his car to make sure he had something to change into he drove the eight blocks to his local gym. After arriving there, he took out his gym bag and headed upstairs to the locker room to change. Once he changed he walked into the room where the treadmills were, pleasantly surprised to see the attractive, red-haired woman from the coffee shop.

He found himself drawn to her, struck by how beautiful she was even without makeup, "glowing" as she ran on the treadmill, oblivious to everything around her, focusing on her pace and whatever she was listening to on her Ipod. He also noticed the sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks that made her adorable as well as beautiful. He was pretending that he had no interest in running next to her when in actuality that was the only place he wanted to be now, right there on the treadmill to her left running next to her.

Dana Scully noticed the man from the coffee shop step into the room and look at her, she did not give any indication that she saw him but she felt her pulse quicken and she felt butterflies in her tummy. She looked over and smiled at him and he smiled back as he took his place to the left of her and adjusted the settings on his machine. Dana then refocused on the spot on the wall that she had been running towards for the past 10 minutes, not wanting to seem overanxious at seeing him again.

Fox Mulder focused on adjusting the settings on his machine, secretly thrilled that she had smiled at him. He was trying to think of an opening, he didn't just want to give her a line, he wanted to be clever, but also genuine. He continued pondering this as he began running, slow at first but finding his pace.

As Dana continued running next to him she found herself wondering about the man running next to her. She unexpectedly found herself struck by the **_maleness _**of him, his presence his being. She realized that she was subconsciously keeping pace with him and that they were running in rhythm. She allowed herself a small smile as this realization hit her and out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smiling as well. She turned her head and made eye contact with him, and she felt the same thing she felt that morning, curiosity and attraction mixed with something else. Hormones? She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she knew it was something, something that shouldn't and couldn't be ignored. She felt the treadmill begin slowing and her pace dwindled down to a slow walk. She turned the machine off, stepped down onto the ground, and grabbed a towel from the bar of the machine. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw the attractive man turn off his machine and step down too.

Fox found himself mentally kicking himself, trying to think of something to say to her. He was struck by the irony of it all, he lectured in front of hundreds of students almost everyday never at a loss for words, and now here he was tongue tied like a schoolboy. It was then that he looks over and sees her stick her hand out to introduce herself, "hello, I'm Dana Scully" he hears her say.

He takes her hand in his and shakes it as he introduces himself "Fox Mulder."

"Excuse me, did you say Fox? I'm not sure I heard you correctly." She replies.

"Yes, Fox, my parents wanted to give me an original name."

She smiles at him and says "Well, I think they succeeded. It's very nice to meet you Fox."

He smiles back, "Likewise Dana."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully or Albert Holstein, I am simply borrowing them for a short while. They are creation of Chris Carter and property of Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions, no copyright infringement intended. **

"So..." She says

"So?" He replies

"So, I don't think I've ever seen you at this gym before" Scully says.

"Of all the gyms, 'of all the bars and all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world and he had to walk into mine' is that what you mean?" He asks gently teasing her.

She laughs a deep throaty laugh. "Yes, something like that" she says smiling at him.

He smiles right back at her, "so... hmm.. Dana are you done with your workout?"

"Yes, I guess I am Fox, why?"

"Well I was wondering if you might want to go get a drink or something."

She considers for a moment before answering him, "Where?"

He was so surprised by her semi-positive response it took him a few seconds to come up with a reply "I think Starbucks is open" he teases.

She smiles, not saying anything.

"OK, well what about the juice bar here?"

"Sounds great."

The walk together to the elevator, Fox pushes the call button when it dings, he automatically places his hand on the small of her back to escort her into the elevator. At his touch, she feels a tingle, almost like an electrical charge, at this smallest of touches. Dana steps into the elevator to the right, Fox hits the button for the lobby and the elevator begins its journey down. Dana is surprised at the lack of awkwardness she feels standing in the elevator with a virtual stranger. In fact, she realizes that this is as comfortable and relaxed she's felt with anybody in a long time. Its then when she's musing that she notices Fox looking at her expecting an answer to a question she hasn't heard.

"I'm sorry could you say that again?" She says.

"Don't tell me I'm boring you already?" He teases "I asked you what is it you do."

"Oh, I'm a doctor, I work at Georgetown University's ER." She waited for the shocked response she normally received when a man heard her answer, instead she was pleasantly surprised by his next question.

"Do you like working there?"

"Yes, I-" she is about to continue when the elevator dings announcing their arrival in the lobby. Fox puts his left hand on the door and waits for her to exit, after she has done so, he follows behind her. They walk next to each other to the juice bar in the lobby and order their drinks. They make their way over to a nearby table to sit down, when they get to the table Fox pulls out Dana's chair for her.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome" he replies as he walks over to the other side of the table, "so you were saying about your job?"

"Oh yes, I was saying I love it. The staff is great and working in the ER is never boring, it's never the same day twice, you know?"

He nods in understanding.

"So Fox, what is it you do?"

"Actually I can't believe how closely my work is to you and how is it that we've never met." He pauses before continuing "I'm a professor of anthropology over at Georgetown."

Dana's eyes widen in surprise "No, really? How is it that we have never met?"

"Maybe the stars were out of alignment or something" he jokes.

"Maybe" she replies.

"I think my current lecture topic would be of some interest to you" he says.

"Oh?" She asks, raising her right eyebrow as she does so.

"Yes, I'm currently discussing healing ceremonies in different cultures. Next class meeting Albert Holstein will be discussing the Navajo's 500 year old ceremony "**_The Blessing Way_**"

"That does sound interesting. So I take it the ceremony doesn't involve a lot of trappings of modern medicine?" She teases.

"Actually, I'm not that familiar with the specifics other than it involves a hut and not bathing or changing clothes for a week after the ceremony's completion."

Dana wrinkles up her nose at that last bit, causing Fox to think that that's the most adorable thing he's ever seen. Suddenly he laughs out loud at her very direct response. Dana finds herself laughing with him, not quite knowing what he's laughing at. "What?" She asks between giggles.

"Nothing, just the way you wrinkled up your nose, it was" he pauses, not quite sure if he should be so honest with his thoughts.

"It was what?" She presses.

He smiles, and half mumbles the answer "cute"

"Excuse me, did you say it was 'cute'?" She asks, teasing him.

"Hmm. . . .yes, cute."

She says nothing else, just quietly sips her drink for a minute trying to think of how to respond. He drinks his as well, worried that he might have said something to offend her, since this is the most quiet they've been since they started talking. However, her drink is still in its cup and not being hurled towards his face so he thinks it's ok. He finds that she is looking at him over the top of her drink, and he smiles at her earning a small smile in return. There it is again, she thinks, that **_somethin_g** when we look at each other.

He is extremely attracted to her, he thinks and what is it when we look at each other? Like some sort of magnet or unspoken **_something, _**something that he really had no words to describe, almost like they were communicating whole paragraphs of dialogue just by looking at each other. Never had a woman had this effect on him before and never had he felt quite like this with a virtual stranger- like he had known her forever but couldn't wait to get to know her all at the same time. He suddenly felt her hand on his forearm and was surprised at how natural and right her touch felt to him.He then realizes that she was asking him a question. "Did you hear me?" She asks.

"No, sorry I didn't" he says honestly.

"I asked when that lecture was going to be taking place? Maybe I could stop by and then maybe afterward we could grab lunch or dinner or something, if I'm not on shift."

"I'm still working out the details, how about I get your number and I could call you and see if you can fit it into your schedule?"

"Sure, do you have something to write it down on?" Half sure that this was some sort of brush off, that he would really never call.

He surprises her by pulling out his cell phone and scrolling through his menu in order to add her number to his phone book. "Hold on, I'm really not this technically inept, it's just a relatively new phone. Ok, go ahead." She rattles off her number, watching as he adds it digit by digit into his phone's memory.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: "If I Never Knew You: Chapter Four"

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dana Scully, Melissa Scully, Fox Mulder,

Albert Holstein or Walter Skinner they are creation and property of Chris Carter and

1013 Productions I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

Synopsis: This is chapter four in my AU fic "If I Never Knew You"

Dana Scully was on her way out of the hospital, excited about the afternoon to

come when she hears someone call her "Dana!" Dana turns and sees her sister

Melissa standing in the lobby of the hospital "Missy is everything OK?" Dana asks as she hugs her sister.

"Yes I was just visiting my S.A.C Walter Skinner, he was brought in earlier

this week."

"Yes, I worked on him. How is he doing?"

"Fine but eager to leave and get back to work."

Suddenly Melissa's cell phone rings "Scully" she answers in that brisk, efficient manner that she possessed. She listens for a moment, "ok, ok, I'm on it." She hangs up the phone then turns to her sister hugging her again "Sorry Dana, but I have to go. I'll call you next week maybe

we can have lunch or dinner if I'm in town."

"Sounds good" Dana steps forward and

gives her sister a kiss on the cheek before

Melissa turns and exits the hospital.

After Melissa left Dana checked her watch yet again. It seemed like time was

crawling by and was passing in ten-minute intervals. "It wouldn't be this way," she thought, "if I wasn't so excited to see him again."

Two evenings ago she was going into her apartment, her arms loaded with

groceries, when her phone began to ring. She was going to let it go straight to voice mail when she somehow** knew** it was him. She found a some space on her dining room table to put down her groceries and tried to remain as calm as possible when she answered the phone.

_"Hello?" _

_"Dr. Scully? This is Fox Mulder."_

_"Hello Fox. How are you?"_

_"Fine, thank you and yourself?"_

_"Just fine."_

_"Dr.Scully I was wondering if you were still interested in attending that Blessing _

_Way Lecture and maybe grabbing a bite to eat afterwards?"_

_"Yes, but only if you promise me one thing."_

_"What's that?"_

_"You need to stop calling me Dr.Scully, please call me Dana."_

_Fox smiled before he answered her "Ok Dana, you have a deal." _

_Dana could hear the smile in his voice prompting her to smile as well, "So, when _

_is this lecture taking place?"_

_"This Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. It should be about 45 minutes followed by a _

_question and answer period. Which means that perhaps we could grab lunch around 1:30 p.m. if you like?"_

_"Sure, sounds great." _

_"OK see you Wednesday then. Bye."_

_"See you Wednesday."_

Dana heard the click and slowly placed the receiver back in the cradle a smile

making its way across her face as she began to put her groceries away.

That was two days ago and now that the day was actually here it seemed to be going

as slow as slow could be. She went down to the hospital to catch up on some paper work

and perhaps make the time pass a bit faster than it seemed to be when she was wandering

around her apartment at 7:30 in the morning. She checked her watch again 10:40 a.m. OK that was a bit better, she could legitimately start walking to the building and find a seat in the lecture hall without feeling like she was being over anxious.

Fox Mulder checked his watch and found that it was only 10:41 a.m. and he couldn't

believe how anxious he was to see the beautiful Dr., excuse me, Dana Scully again. He was so happy that he had accepted his offer to lunch after the lecture. He was making small talk with the guest lecturer, Albert Holstein, and keeping one eye on the doors to the lecture hall at the

back of the room waiting for her to make her entrance.

"She'll come, and you know it." Albert Holstein said to him.

"Excuse me? Who will come?"

"Whomever it is you keeping checking your watch and the door for. She'll come,

she said she would, didn't she?"

"How did you know?"

Albert Holstein didn't answer him; he just smiled at his host in amusement.

At that moment Fox Mulder looked up and saw her coming into the lecture hall

and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Dana Scully entered the lecture hall and paused before taking a glance, looking through the sea of faces for his, the one she had been thinking of all day. At last she found him looking at her from the front of the lecture hall, they made eye contact

from across the hall and smiled at each other at the exact same time.

"See, I told you she would show up Mr.Mulder." Albert Holstein teased.

"How did you know it was her?"

"You changed completely when she walked in, if that isn't who you're waiting for, it should be."

Fox Mulder looked at his guest in surprise too stunned to say anything.

"Ok, I think it's time to get started now so you can go talk to her afterwards."

Fox Mulder made his way to the lectern to introduce the guest speaker. He scanned

the audience and saw her sitting on the left side of the lecture hall, a few seats from the back. He made eye contact with her, giving her another small smile before introducing Albert Holstein.


End file.
